Advances in semiconductor manufacturing technologies have resulted in dramatically increased circuit packing densities and higher speeds of operation. In order to achieve such increased densities, a wide variety of evolutionary changes have taken place with respect to semiconductor processing techniques and semiconductor device structures over the years.
The introduction of vertically oriented field effect transistors (FETs), referred to as a finFETs, has more recently been introduced into commercial semiconductor products. Compared to traditional FETs, finFETs provide ways to reduce the overall size of a semiconductor device while retaining the ability to control a conductive channel. However, as with all transistors, finFETs can degrade over time due to hot carrier injection (HCI).
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.
It is noted that the drawn representations of various semiconductor structures shown in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, but rather, as is the practice in this field, drawn to promote a clear understanding of the structures and process steps which they are illustrating.